STATEMENT"My work references the natural world and its inhabitants that have become barometers for our changing environment. My recent work focuses on the coyote and his wayward suburban trek. Motivated by his surprising visit to the artist’s backyard patio, my paintings imagine very unusual suburban settings for the coyote."

"He survives his lost habitat and finds a new luxurious home. Another series references sea life that is affected by warmer tides. A variety of media such as hand-painted, designed stencils are employed in conjunction with oil and acrylic paint. My Italy series is painted in broad, bold brushwork and strong color. The Italian landscape is the reference for these spontaneous and joyous paintings."

BIOAfter a long career in the teaching of Art in the public schools of Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, Bonnie McKee Tortora started showing her own work in 1984 and winning an Honorable Mention award in the Monmouth Museum Annual Juried Competition. Since then, she has had ten solo shows in galleries in the New York area.

She has been included in many group exhibitions such as Southern Vermont Arts Center, City Without Walls, Newark, N.J., Brookdale Community College Alumni Association Annual, Shore Institute of the Contemporary Arts, Long Branch, N.J. and eleven Statewide Annual Juried Exhibitions, Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, N.J. Her work is included in the corporate collection of McGraw-Hill, N.Y.C. as well as many other business and private collections.